Medical school life, as many people would say is not at all a bed of roses. The intense academic workloads, the limited time of relaxation, financial burden, academic stress, parental expectations, unhealthy competition and the homesickness are few of the common stressors I’ve experienced thus far.
Research has shown that about 50 percent of medical students experience symptoms of burnout as a result of all the stressors listed above.
Everyone has a coping strategy to stress or stressful situations, below are some of the ways I cope with stress as a medical student.
Sleep
My average sleep time in a day is 5 hours. I’m a nocturnal person, I go to sleep very late at night either by spending the time learning or just scrolling through my phone after studies.
During my stressful days, the first defense mechanism is to sleep well. I get some sleep after class, thus in afternoon which I normally don’t do. When I wake up I feel totally refreshed to continue my day. Sometimes after a hot afternoon rest/sleep, the stress goes away.
Give myself a break
One of the other ways I cope with my stressful periods is to give myself some break. Break from everything including studies and especially my phone.
I’m a very studious person so it’s very difficult to just take a break from what I enjoy doing. It’s very hard sometimes but at the same time very helpful. I get to relax my mind, think about myself more and other things I might enjoy doing.
Other times I take the break and just lay in bed reminiscing about myself which helps replenish my attention, motivation and productivity.
Exercise
Exercise can be an excellent way to decompress. When one exercises, the brain produces a feel-good hormone called endorphins. Endorphins can act as natural painkiller and also improve the ability to sleep, which in turn reduces stress.
Some of the stress releasing exercises I do include going for a run, taking a walk around the campus or just sit still and watch the birds fly and listen to them sing.
Watch anime
Just a single episode from my favorite anime is enough to calm my nerves. Anime is like a good distraction to me. You could conclude that I watch anime to escape from reality sometimes. The enthralling storylines just makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
Spend less time on my phone
One of the easiest ways I get stressed out is spending a lot of time on my phone, whether being on social medias, playing games or simply reading lecture slides on my phone.
Have you ever just got tired of using your phone and just feel like destroying it? That’s how It feels like to me sometimes, just throw the phone away and get away from it.
I’ll usually switch the phone off for some hours before switching it back on. I also set timers for how long I can use my social media even though I do not always comply with that. Lol
Call for support, in some cases.
I don’t usually practice this technique, but sometimes it gets overwhelming and I have to seek external support. I don’t like confiding in people with my personal matters. I feel I can handle a lot of them by myself with time. But sometimes it doesn’t go as plan and that’s when I call my mom to just cry my heart out. She knows how to comfort me, I mean she’s my mom.
Other times I talk to some friends, they share some advices with me, or other times we just have fun together. I feel good and relieved most of the times after just talking to them. I feel I’ll do that more often.
Thank you for reading!
